The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has announced the reduction of the fee for issuance of Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-Os) for plots of land in Abuja from N5 million to N3.5 million.
The downward review of the fee appears to be a reaction to the objection by stakeholders and key players in the real estate sector to the initially announced N5 million.
According to a statement by the Director of Press (Office of the FCT Minister), Anthony Ogunleye, this was made known by Wike during his second monthly ministerial press briefing on Friday, November 24, in his office in Abuja.
Wike had indicated days ago that there would be a downward review of the C-of-O fee, which, he maintained, is a flat rate for all sizes of land regardless of the location of the land in the FCT.
Recall that some days ago, Wike had disclosed that the FCT Administration had pegged the cost of issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy (C- of-O) at N5 million.
He said payment could be made within 4 months of land allocation after which the C-of-O would be handed over to the applicant.
He added that he would seek the approval of President Bola Tinubu to link applicants’ National Identification Number to C-of-Os before issuance.
The minister also said the era where 3 or more persons were allocated the same plot of land with fake C-of-O was over.